''Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Arkane Lyon in conjunction with MachineGames and published by

Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...

. A spin-off in the ''

Wolfenstein ''Wolfenstein'' is a series of World War II video games originally developed by Muse Software. The majority of the games follow William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an American Army captain and his fight against the Axis powers. Earlier titles are center ...

'' series, ''Cyberpilot'' is a virtual reality experience. The game was released for Windows PC and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

in July 2019. It received mixed or average reviews upon release.

Gameplay

Unlike previous entries, ''Cyberpilot'' is a virtual reality experience. ''Cyberpilot'' is a side story that takes place chronologically a week prior to the events of '' Wolfenstein: Youngblood''. Set twenty years after the events of ''The New Colossus'', the protagonist is depicted as a computer hacker known as Cyberpilot who works for the French Resistance against the Nazi regime. Through hacking, the player character takes over hostile armored war machines and uses them against Nazi soldiers. The game features four levels and three pilotable machines, including the Panzerhund, the Zitadelle, and a small drone for a stealth mission. During combat, players can occasionally deploy a shield to defend themselves. In between missions, players can explore a Resistance bunker.

Development

''Cyberpilot'' was primarily developed by Arkane Studios in Lyon, with franchise developer MachineGames providing additional development. Arkane Lyon envisioned the game as a "different" kind of ''Wolfenstein'' game, and therefore, did not try to emulate the gameplay of the main games in the series. The game was announced by publisher

during its press conference during E3 2018. It was released on July 26, 2019 for Windows PC and

. Both ''Cyberpilot'' and ''Youngblood'' were the first in the franchise to make use of the "social adequacy clause" introduced by Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK; the German software ratings board) in August 2018, which allowed the use of Nazi imagery and symbols in video games in relevant scenarios, reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Despite being officially rated by USK, major German retailers, such as MediaMarkt,

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, and

GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...

, refused to sell the uncensored version, offering only the separately sold German version, which lacks all Nazi imagery and references and features German as the only language option.

Reception

The game received generally "mixed or average" reviews upon release according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game's visuals and presentation received some praise. Many critics criticized the combat for its simplicity and clunkiness, and remarked that firearms in the game lacked a sense of impact. Critics were also disappointed by the game's thin narrative, feeling that they did not reach the standard set by previous ''

'' games. Its short length and lack of replayability was also criticized.

References

External links

* {{MachineGames 2019 video games Action-adventure games Arkane Studios games Bethesda Softworks games Dystopian video games First-person shooters Hacking video games MachineGames games Nazis in fiction Nazism in fiction PlayStation 4 games PlayStation VR games Retrofuturistic video games Single-player video games Video game spin-offs Video games about Nazi Germany Video games developed in France Video games developed in Sweden Video games set in Paris Video games set in 1980 Windows games Wolfenstein Video games about World War II alternate histories Virtual reality games